by Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports

by Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports

MINNEAPOLIS -- Derek Jeter kept trying to tell everyone he didn't want this All-Star Game to be all about him.

He insisted on no ceremonies. No tributes. No honors.

Sorry, but folks had other ideas.

Every storyline of the All-Star Game, every magical moment, all circled back to Jeter.

Mike Trout was voted MVP of the All-Star Game after the American League's 5-3 victory, but he's questioned on how it feels to be the next face of baseball, replacing Jeter, his boyhood idol.

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright gives up three first inning runs, including a double to Jeter, and he's torched in social media, for saying he grooved a fastball to Jeter, later backpedaling from the comments.

Jeter, in the meantime, plays just three innings, goes 2-for-2 with a run, and steals the show.

"He has a flare for the dramatic as we know,'' AL manager John Farrell said. "It worked out pretty well.''

Jeter, who addressed the team before the game, tried to keep it simple. There was no drama. He merely told the players to have fun, remember that your career will fly by quickly, and always respect the game.

"This All-Star Game is about everybody that's here,'' Jeter says. "It's not about one particular person. You know, I've always been uncomfortable, so to speak, when the course is on me. And I felt as though the focus should be on everyone that's in this game.

"When you play this game, you try to have respect for the game. You have respect for your players, both your teammates and your opponents.

"For them to do that, that would be much better than if there was something that was scripted.

There was no pageantry or special ceremonies for Jeter, but still, Jeter's teammates, the National League team, and the sellout crowd at Target Field couldn't quite help themselves.

The fans gave Jeter a thunderous ovation during the starting lineup introductions. They cheered when he ran onto the field. And they loved it when he made a diving stab on the first play of the game, nearly throwing out Andrew McCutchen on his ground ball up the middle.

"You kind of just knew it would be his day,'' Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester said, "good things could go for him.''

He stepped to the plate in the first inning, and was greeted by a deafening ovation. NL catcher Jonathan Lucroy took off his glove and shook his hand. Jeter jokingly asked him what pitches Wainwright would throw.

Lucroy never responded, but stood behind home plate with his mitt off, letting the ovation grow. Jeter dug into the box, but when he looked to the mound, there was Wainwright's glove. He was standing behind the mound, cheering himself.

"I tried to tell him to pick it up, let's go,'' Jeter said. "But he took a moment and let the fans give me an ovation, which I will always remember.

"I have never faced Adam before. I haven't really talked to him. And for him to do that says a lot about him, and how much of a class act he is.''

So how does Jeter pay him back?

He lines a double to right field on his first swing, and then singles in his second at-bat.

"I was going to give a couple of pipe shots,'' Wainwright said to reporters when he came out of the game. "He deserved it. I didn't know he was going to hit a double though, or I might have changed my mind.''

Wainwright was immediately blasted on Twitter, and afterwards said he simply was joking.

"If he grooved it, thank you,'' Jeter said. "You still have to hit it. I appreciate it if that's what he did.

"Thank you.''

Controversy, over and out.

Jeter came out to his shortstop position in the fourth, but was then dramatically removed from the game. The ovation was deafening. The entire National League team stood on its feet and joined the crowd cheering, with Jeter hugged by everyone in the dugout.

The game came to a complete standstill. It was if no one wanted to play any longer, until Jeter came out of the dugout one last time, with Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York,'' blaring over the loudspeakers, when the game finally resumed.

"I thought it was great,'' Jeter said. "It was a wonderful moment that I am always going to remember. I appreciate John (Farrell) doing that for me.''

It will live forever in magical All-Star memories.

"To get a standing ovation, have the players come out on the field and everyone recognize a career like that,'' Minnesota Twins closer Glenn Perkins said, "is pretty special. Down in the pen, we all stood up and cheered. I was thinking he was running off the field, I thought, "Stop. You need to stop and tip your hat. This is the last time all of these people are going to see you.'

"A pretty special moment.''

Considering the Yankees' struggles these days, and the possibly they will be home in October and miss the playoffs, it just may be Jeter's last time in the national spotlight.

"I don't think it's really sunk in for a lot of people,'' Lester said, "that this is it for him.''

It's the rest of us that aren't ready to say good-bye.

"I'm not retiring at the end of the year because I don't think I can play,'' Jeter said. "It's just the time is right. I enjoy playing these All-Star Games and completing against the best, and today, I was fortunate to get a couple of hits.

"But I still feel as though I can play.''

Now, of course, the torch will be passed, but the light will be dimmed.

"I don't think you'll ever see another Derek Jeter,'' says Boston Red Sox coach Brian Butterfield, who has known Jeter since 1993 as his infield instructor in the Yankees' minor league system. "The one thing they should watch is how hard he plays the game, and for how long he's played, he's played that hard. He has never let up on a routine ground ball running from home to first. The way a guy runs the bases speaks to me a lot about his character.

"I think some of the young kids should watch that part of his game.''

The one player who grew watching intently, of course, is Trout. He's 22 years old. He finished runner-up in the last two American League MVP seasons. If anyone has a chance to be the next Jeter, it's him.

"Growing up, watching the way he plays, I was setting goals to myself that if I ever get the chance to get to the big leagues,'' Trout said, "that's how I want to play.

"The way he carries himself on and off the field. How he respects the game. Always hustling. It doesn't matter what the score is. If they are down 10 runs, he is always running the ball out. That's how I want to play.''

It will be a night he'll forever cherish, teammates, for the final time.

"It's special for me,'' he said. "Chills. Goosebumps. You name it. Everything was running through my body.''

It was the same feeling for everyone. Who cared about their own individual performance? Does it really matter who won? They just know they were able to witness firsthand one of the most poignant celebrations in All-Star history.

This is a man who will be immortalized, a first-ballot lock for the Hall of Fame, who will forever be remembered for his pristine image as well as his talents.

This is the biggest sports star in New York. He has dated some of the hottest super models and actresses around. And yet, at a time when everyone looks for gossip, not one bit of trouble, let alone a nasty word.

"I don't think we'll ever find anyone again that private,'' Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones said. "In today's era of social media, nothing is private. It kind of [stinks]. You have nothing to yourself any more. Everything is out there. People want to know everybody about our lives.